Forget about too young, how about too small a boat?

Anyone know the record for the smallest sailboat to cross the Atlantic? (and by whom, and when)


Hey, remember that 11 yr. old girl who was going to be "The youngest girl to ever fly an airplane across the country..." ?? How'd that turn out?

The boat is definitely not the smallest, there are a lot of 25ft boats sailing around (Vancouver 25 for example).
About irresponsible parenting, what about the Vendee and V70 sailors who all have families?

I know a circumnavigation in an 8ft boat is recorded and I also recall some ocean journey (possibly a circumnavigation) in a 6'10" boat.

My son first took the controls of an aircraft when aged 6. By the time he was 14 he was happily performing stunts. At the age of 10 my daughter after 20 minutes instruction was happily helming a KL13.5 in Quiberon bay. So much so I set her off just her and her mother(qualified sailor but very uneasy about it). My daughter was calming her mother down! When exposed to challenging situations children can be incredibly adaptable when the fears of others are not imposed upon them. My fears are that the beaurocratic processes will crush the spirit in this girl. What we have not heard about is the backup and planning support for the trip. It is not two years 'alone' but a travelling experience by boat taking up to two years. Remember careful planning (timing, weather routing etc.) can be used to minimise risks. Psycological assessment!!!!! It would be interesting to learn what the psycologists would have said about Ellen MacArthur before she started her teenage adventures.

Cheshirecatman

Personally, I would feel safer in a small boat, like no bigger than 24-25 foot.

And about sailing around the world: Many people do it, including elderly people and disabled people. When you are not racing, you can pick your weather time carefully for each passage, and spend as much time as you want or need to do it safely.

For a 13-year-old girl, I would worry more about her safety when she is in port than when she is out on the water.

http://www.amazon.com/April-Fool-Ca...mp;s=books&qid=1251503649&sr=1-1



Come on Mary, I threw you a softball!

Way back in about 1969, Hugo Vihlen, of Homestead, FL, sailed a homebuilt 6' plywood boat across the Atlantic Ocean, from Casablanca to Ft. Lauderdale and then they named the Killer Whale at the Miami Seaquarium after him, HUGO, the Killer Whale. Mary, were you living up north back then? I thought for sure you would know this one.

OK, once is bad enough, but twice would be crazy, right? Well, shortly after some crazy butt Brit broke Hugo's 6' record by sailing a 5'10" boat across the Atlantic, Hugo did it AGAIN, in a 5'6" boat! YES, he spent about $60,000 and a couple years building the boat, this one was of composite materials vs. the first one which was simple plywood. But he still holds the record for smallest sailboat across the Atlantic.

It took him about 90 days the first time, only 60 days the second, but the second time he went east, from Nova Scotia to England.

How do I know all this? Because his son, Dana, was in my USAF pilot training class and told me all about his Dad. In later years, I was hired to fly at Delta Air Lines, where by the way, Hugo also flew, as a very senior L10-11 Captain!

It took him about 7 hours to cross the Atlantic in the L10-11 and 60 days in the 5'6" boat.

http://www.amazon.com/Stormy-Voyage-Fathers-Day/dp/0943400910/ref=ntt_at_ep_dpt_1

Look closely at the picture, he is standing on the boat!

Oh, BTW Rick and Mary, Hugo now lives on a 58' Hatteras tied to the dock behind his son Dana's house, which is in Tavanier. You might run into one of them sometime. And Dana's wife is a nurse at that big hospital down there, ask for Nancy Vihlen if you have to go. ;^)

Oh, allmost forgot, the 11 yr. old girl that was going to fly across the country? She died when she crashed just after takeoff in Montana, flying into a snowstorm. The airplane was overloaded with video equipment and her jackass of a dad in the back seat...they both died.

I think ABC news was partly to blame, they asked her to cary all that extra weight in video equipment, and they also pushed her to take off that morning instead of waiting out the storm, because they (ABC) were running late and didn't want any more delays lest they miss the 6pm news of her arrival at the next stop...

I guess they got their story.

Brilliant.

Timbo, we weren't in Florida until 1983. In 1965 I was working for a newspaper in Lake County, Ohio and interviewed the wife of Robert Manry while he was sailing the smallest boat ever (at that point) across the Atlantic. Back at that time I don't think he was doing it to set a record -- it was just some kind of personal challenge. Here's a little blurb from Wikipedia:

Robert Manry (June 2, 1918 – February 21, 1971) was a copy editor of the Cleveland Plain Dealer who in 1965 sailed from Falmouth, Massachusetts to Falmouth, Cornwall, England in a tiny 13.5 foot (4 m) sailboat (an Old Town "Whitecap" built by the Old Town Canoe Co. of Old Town, Maine, which he had extensively modified for the voyage) named Tinkerbelle. Beginning on June 1, 1965 and ending on August 17, the voyage lasted 78 days.

At the time, the Tinkerbelle was the smallest boat to make a non-stop trip across the Atlantic Ocean. Manry later wrote about the voyage and its preparation in his book Tinkerbelle, in which the sailor expressed shock and surprise at the huge crowds and armada of small boats that greeted his arrival in Cornwall.

Seriously! Have any of you storm talkers been out in the open ocean where you look around and there is NO land in sight?

The open ocean waves are NOTHING compared to what you see close to shore.

Oh and big ocean cruiseliners do not count. Anything smaller than 300ft in big swells takes some serious cojones and a bullet proof digestive system that can hold food back.

Been there done that got the shirt and wont be back!

13 yrs old in a 25ft boat is freaking stupid! what is the point? To fulfill a dream? she has an entire life in front of her to do it why so young? There is definitely a hidden agenda with the father.

Did you mean the opposite, that the waves you see close to shore are NOTHING compared to the open ocean waves?

Anyway, I'm all for letting her do the trip. She is going to be 14, and I think I would have been capable of doing that when I was 14. I STILL think so, even in hindsight.

If she freaks out early in the voyage, she will still be close to shore and can turn around and come home. Just like kids who run away from home and suddenly realize, "This isn't fun."

I would feel a lot better about her safety, though, if she were doing the voyage on a Wharram catamaran than on a monohull that can sink.

P.S. It is not like she is going to be alone at sea for two years. People who spend that kind of time (two years) circumnavigating are spending more time ashore than they are on the water. Sounds like a GREAT education.

As a parent of 6 children I believe it is utterly ridiculous to even consider letting a 13 year old (or 14 or 15) sail around the world alone.

Sure, traveling with her parents around the world would be a great education. But that's a whole different scenario.

Why would a parent want to miss out on and cheat their kid out of that wonderful period of parenting?

You're kidding, right?

So, providing the the guidance and support required for such a trip is not good parenting? If such a positive attitude was shown to other children I am sure a number of 'social problems' would not be so prevalent. Two tears alone? I think not. A circumnavigation made up of numerous short hops. This is not Sir Robin Knox Johnston battling non-stop against the prevailing winds! What an education, learning practically about how to overcome numerous issues. She obviously has a degree of competence and determination to put such a challenge in front of her. Modern communication means support is readily available. I'm with Mary on this one. Let it happen.

Cheshirecatman

Right on Robi! I have been on the North Atlantic on 100 ft fishing vessels in BFT 11-12, and there is no way I would let my 13 year old (actually mine is 12...) take the chance of experiencing that! Even Bft 6-7 on the open ocean is very hairy in a 24 ft boat...
It will be an education allright!

And it sounds to me like she would be a LOT more competent than these guys in midlife crisis who have always had a dream about sailing around the world, even though they have never sailed before, and they take an A.S.A. sailing course and buy a boat and go for it. Now, THAT is SCARY!

Why would she have to experience that? Lots and lots of people are sailing around the world all the time, and they have absolutely no problem, because they can pick their weather and have no deadlines.

It's not like racing or commercial fishing or charters or boat deliveries, where you have deadlines and end up getting into trouble as a result.

Local long time Hobie racer, Peter Nelson is living the dream, with son Will. Ruth will join them shortly.
Follow their adventure at http://www.sailblogs.com/member/timewarp1/

Caleb Tarleton

Obviously you have never been out in the open ocean in a vessel small enough to really scare the crap out of you.

A 13 year old? Mary come on you honestly think a 13 year old child has the maturity of a mid-life crisis adult? How will a 5kt sh!t box outrun a hurricane that is trucking along at 15 to 20kts? Or a typhoon? How about when the cold fronts coming roaring down from the north and bring massive swells? Seriously think about it, the risks out number the gains.

Its a STUPID idea. Because of people like her parents we the folks who saves lives have to risk our own to make sure they are safe when crap hits the fan.